2016 is nearing its end, and this is a time for me to reflect on the year that it has been. I believe it has been an up and down year for myself. For every feeling of defeat I've experienced, I've also experienced a feeling of victory as well. I had goals for myself over the course of the calendar year, some of which were fulfilled, others were not. I had my share of happy and sad memories as well.

My happiest moments were knowing that I got admitted to graduate school and that I was granted the right to earn my bachelor's degrees from the University of Michigan (I studied two degree programs, I finished in the spring semester; Michigan has a Fall-Winter-Spring/Summer "trimester" like system). I was set on completing both programs and I was able to do so by getting off to a great start with the winter semester. The winter semester included three academic courses that I really looked forward to in biostatistics, senior seminar, and an introductory psychology class. I enjoyed the seminar class the most, as it allowed me to display analytical and argumentative perspective. I believe that you can use quantitative and qualitative description to argue in favor or against whatever topic in question. But the point is, I enjoyed that class as much as any that I had in college.

The winter semester during my senior year was also my best semester academically, and that is something I'm very proud of. I had not gotten above a 3.5 GPA in any full semester until then, and I had a few bad semesters from Spring 2014 to Fall 2015, which included all of my junior year and the first semester of senior year. I felt like the success of getting a 3.88 GPA to end my undergraduate study was the sign of things to come.

It indeed was the sign of things to come, but it was not what I had expected. I was expecting to be working full-time out of college, but instead, I took an alternative route and did an internship before going to graduate school, and I'm happy I took that route. I opened myself up to opportunities that I wouldn't have if I remained stubborn about wanting and landing a full-time job instead. I got to make new connections either way, but I feel that I've made so many more new ones by going on to more school. I was able to feel more confident that I could better myself through it. I immediately fell in love with and joined a new church community, and I tried some new experiences. I tried out for a fashion show and I got picked to be in it (although it ultimately got cancelled) which told me that you shouldn't stop yourself from trying, and you shouldn't care what anyone thinks. I overcame some of my own insecurity by trying out (feel free to ask me what this includes, if you want to know), since I decided I had nothing to lose, and I didn't hesitate to ask any questions I had about it. It's just like auditioning for the lead role in a school play or applying for job you're interested in. I've taken this with me as something that I want to continue working on throughout my lifetime.

I've made new friends at church, and I'm growing closer to God with them in the process. I joined the worship team at my church and I'm able to make music as a way of living out God's purpose for me. Music means so much to me and I want to keep on letting it reinvigorate the feeling of having God in my life, the feeling of having perspective and expression, and what it feels like to give and receive love. I also started writing for The Odyssey, and it's an opportunity I've enjoyed with fellow writers and contributors doing the same.

I had some failures but I didn't let them bring me down. I didn't give in to the temptation of giving up. I wallowed a bit in the dumps from failure but the mistakes I made didn't beat me up again. I successfully passed my first semester of graduate school with the grades I got knowing that I can do better and that is what I aim to do.

I have so much to build on entering 2017 and I'm excited about fulfilling it. I want to be more patient and accepting of the processes that take place, and be more content when things don't go my way. Some of my goals haven't been met yet, such as landing an internship for the summer of 2017, but I have something to do during the summer if that doesn't work out. I have goals to do other things as well, but I have faith that I can be happy with my life since God has allowed me to connect with like-minded people, to be a more confident individual, and to keep on putting in effort to be a better man. I have things to be proud of and the opportunity to fulfill God's purpose further.

Happy New Year!